Catch



Dec. 19, 1950 ADAMS 2,534,693

CATCH Filed March 7, 1947 I I 12W '30 INVENTOR. AR HUR R. ADAMS I ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 19, 1950 CATCH Arthur 1. Adams, Glendale, Calif., assignor to Adams Rite Manufacturing Company, Glendale, Calif, a corporation of California Application March 7, 1947, Serial No. 733,005

6 Claims. (Cl. 292223) The present invention relates generally to a catch, and is more particularly concerned with improvements in spring catches of the flush type, such as utilized for doors, show cases, closures generally, and the like.

It is a primary object of the herein described invention to provide a spring catch having various features of novelty and advantages and which is particularly characterized by its simplicity in construction, economy of manufacture, and the ease and facility with which it may be installed and operated.

A further object is to provide a flush type catch of improved design and construction having a novel pivot member of one-piece construction serving both for the bolt and its actuating member. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a spring catch of the flush type having an easy accessible and operable finger pull plate which will, in its initial movement, release the catch, and thereafter serve, as the pull thereon is continued, to open the closure on which it is installed.

Still another object is to provide a catch of the herein described type, having a finger pull plate mounted in a recess in such a way as to facilitate its actuation and wherein the recess is so shaped as to guide the end of the operators finger to a proper position for actuation of the pull plate.

It is also an object to provide in a catch of this type an improved casing of one-piece construction which is so designed that it can be stamped or otherwise formed from a flat sheet of material.

Further objects of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of disclosing preferred embodiments of the invention without placing limitations on the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:

Fig. l is an isometric fragmentary closure member equipped with a catch embodying the structure of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the same, taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the catch, portions of the casing being cut away to disclose structural details;

Fig. l is a transverse enlarged sectional view, taken substantially on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional View, taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a rear view of a modified construction.

For purposes of illustration, a catch of the flush type embodying the features of my invention is disclosed in Fig. l of the drawings as being mounted upon a closure member which has been generally indicated by the numeral [8. This closure may be of the hinged type, a removable panel, or other type of closure of general use. The catch of my invention is of such construction that it may be easily installed and does not require a mortise or difiic'ult cut-out for reception of its operative elements in order to install it upon the closure. Moreover, the catch may be installed in any position, and will function equally well when installed for left-hand, right-hand or vertical operation.

The component parts of the catch are assembled to form a unitary structure on a framework or casing ll of such construction that it may be stamped or otherwise formed from a flat sheet of suitable material such as brass. As shown, the casing comprises an end plate portion t2 and a face plate portion it in right-angle relation.

The end plate portion has outwardly extending end margins which form wings i l-44 which are each provided with an aperture l5 for receipt of a securing member, such as a screw 16. Intermediate its ends, the end plate portion is provided with a rectangular aperture which forms an opening through which a bolt it normally projects.

The face plate portion, during the fabrication of the casing, is provided with a substantially rectangular shaped recess 59. This recess, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is formed with substantially parallel side walls 2fl2ll, an end wall 2! adjacently disposed to the end plate portion l2, and a bottom portion 22 which is inclined from the bottom of the end wall 2! to the surface of the face plate portion at the opposite end of the recess. Adjacent this end of the recess. the recess is provided with an aperture 23 for receiving a securing means such. as a screw 26 therethrough. At the end of the recess adjacent the end plate portion l2, there is mounted a finger pull plate 25 for pivotal or swinging movement about a marginal edge thereof, as will be hereinafter described in detail.

It will be thus apparent, from the foregoing description, that the casing of the herein described catch is easily mounted, being secured in position by the two screws I6-i6 extending through the wings l4, and the screw 24 in the bottom of the recess. Moreover, it will be apparent, from an examination of Fig. 2, that the inclination of the bottom of the recess is in such direction that it will act as a guide to move the inserted finger of an operator in proper direction to carry it under the free edge of the finger pull plate 25.

The finger pull plate has its outer edge lying adjacent the end of the recess deformed to provide a right-angle flange 26 which is extended near the ends of the pull plate to provide elongate tongues, these tongues being bent or otherwise deformed to provide spaced pivot ears 2l-2l.

A pivot member 28 has one end portion 29 supported in the side walls 2il2l of the recess, this end being engaged by the pivot ears so as to mount the finger pull plate for swinging movement.

Exteriorly of the recess, the pivot member 28 is formed with a double-U bend lying in the same plane with the pivot end portion 29, and is provided with its other end portion deflected at right angles to this plane to form a pivot stud 30. The pivot member 28 is secured in assembled position and held against detachment by welding or brazing to the rear surface of the face plate portion, as indicated by numeral 3i.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the bolt I8 has a right-angle shank portion 32 which is provided with an end aperture or passage 33 for receiving the pivot stud by which it is supported for pivotal swinging movement into projecting and retracted relation to the end plate portion in the aperture ll thereof. Normally, the bolt i8 is resiliently retained in its projecting position by means of a U-shaped spring 36 which straddles the bolt shank portion 32 and is provided with loops in each leg for surrounding the pivotal stud,

one leg of the spring, as indicated by the numeral 35, being extended into engagement with the rear face of the end plate portion [2 to energize the spring in relation to the bolt, and urge the bolt toward its projecting position. The other leg of the spring fits into a peripheral end groove 36 of the pivot stud 3G to retain the bolt shank thereon.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the single pivot member 28 serves as a pivotal mounting not only for the finger pull plate within the recess l9, but also serves as a p o a mounting for the bolt H3 in the space between the end wall 2| of the recess and the end plate portion l2.

The bolt l8 and the pull plate 25 are interconnected by an elongate link member 31 having an end loop 38 at one end for engaging around the shank 32 of the bolt and a right-angle end portion 39 at its opposite end which extends over and around an arm extension 49 integrally formed with the flange 26, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Adjacent the interconnection of the link end 39 with the arm extension 40, the bottom of the recess is cut out to define an aperture or opening 4| and an edge 42 in the end wall 2| of the recess. The link 31 is guided in its movement through the recess wall by the cooperative action of the wall edge 42 and a tongue portion 33 formed in the bottom of the recess and bent over the adjacent portion of the link, after this end has been placed in operative association with the arm extension 40.

The arm extension further limits movement of the finger pull plate in one direction only from its normal position. The arm extension will engage against the end wall 21 of the recess, thus preventing movement of the pull plate in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2. However, the pull plate 25 may be actuated in a counterclockwise direction to the position shown in dotted lines, wherein it projects outwardly of the recess. Such movement acts to longitudinally move the link 3'! and draw the bolt l8 to retracted position against the force of the spring 34. As soon as the pull plate is actuated to release the bolt, further pull on the plate will act to move the closure to open position. Upon releasing the pull plate, the spring 34 acts to restore the bolt to its normal projecting position. It will be apparent that, since the end portion 29 acts to move the link only when the pull plate is moved to open position, the bolt is free to be resiliently urged to retracted position without movement of the pull plate. Such action may take place when the closure is moved into closing position.

As shown in Fig. 6, a modified construction may be utilized wherein instead of utilizing a unitary pivot member 28 for the pivotal mounting of the pull plate 25 and the bolt 18, I may utilize separate pivot members 29 and 3B which are respectively and independently secured in operative position. The pivot 30 may be welded, soldered, or otherwise secured to the base plate portion :3.

In this modification, the U-shaped spring 34 has been omitted, and in its place, I provide a coil spring 34 which is positioned with one end over a projecting portion 44 in the end wall 2| of the recess E9. The other end of the spring 34 is seated within a socket 45 in an adjacent face of the bolt is. This spring 3 5 acts in a similar manner to the spring 34 of the preferred construction to normally actuate the bolt I8 to latched position.

As a further modification, the aperture 23 in the bottom portion of the recess may be omitted and a. prong G6 provided, this prong being secured as by a spot welding or otherwise, as indicated at 4'1, to the bottom 22 of the recess and projecting therefrom with its pointed end spaced from the bottom.

In a construction as just described, the prong 38 would be pushed or driven into the adjacent material of the closure member upon which the catch is to be mounted, and serve to cooperate with the screws 16-46 in the end plate portion l2 to retain the catch in installed mounted position.

I claim:

1. A catch, comprising: a casing having a face plate containing a recess, a finger pull plate pivotally mounted adjacent one side of the recess for swinging movement about an edge margin thereof, said plate normally lying flush with the surface of the face plate and extendin over a part of said recess, a pivotally mounted bolt, a member secured to said casing having a projecting portion serving as a pivot for said bolt and a projecting portion serving within the recess as a pivot for the pull plate, and a link connection between said pull plate and said bolt.

2. A catch, comprising: a face plate containing a recess having side walls, a swingably mounted plate extending between said wails and normally lying flush with the face plate, an elongate member extending between said walls and constituting a pivotal support for said swingable plate, a portion of said elongate member extending outside of said recess being deformed in a plane containing the pivotal support portion within the recess and having a deflected end margin at a right angle to said plane, a bolt pivotally mounted for swinging movement on said deflected end, and

an actuating connection between the swlngably mounted plate and the bolt.

3. A catch, comprising: a casing consisting of an apertured end plate and an integral face plate having a recess therein, a bolt pivotally supported between the recess wall and said end plate for movement through the aperture of the end plate to projecting and retracted positions, means resiliently urging the bolt toward its projecting position, a manually movable pull member in the recess on the opposite side of the recess wall from the bolt for actuating it to retracted position; and a connection between said pull member and said bolt.

4. A catch, comprising: a casing consisting of an apertured end plate and an integral face plate having a recess therein containing an end wall spaced from said end plate, a bolt pivotally supported between said recess end wall and said end plate for movement through the aperture of the end plate to projecting and retracted positions, means including a member positioned in said recess on the opposite side of said end walls from the bolt and which is manually movable in one direction for actuating said bolt to a retracted position, and means resiliently opposing said movement and normally retaining said bolt in projecting position.

5. A catch, comprising: a casing having a face plate containing a recess, a finger pull pivotally mounted adjacent one side of the recess for swinging movement about an edge margin thereof, said plate normally lying flush with the surface of the face plate, and extending over one end of said recess, a bolt movably supported on the casing outside said recess, a link connection between said pull plate and said bolt for moving the latter in one direction in response to movements of the pull plate, and a, coil spring outside the recess extending between a wall of said recess and said bolt for normally moving the bolt in the other direction.

6. A catch, comprising: a face plate having a recess therein; a swingable plate in said recess hinged along a. plane of said face plate; an arm carried by said swingable plate extending at right angles thereto and positioned within said recess; a bolt; a pivot adjacent one end of said bolt extending at right angles to the face plate; and a. link connection between said arm and bolt, the end of said link associated with said arm having a portion engageable by said arm during swinging movement of the face plate in a bolt retracting direction, and being free for movement independently of said arm upon direct movement of the bolt to retracted position.

ARTHUR R. ADAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 464,478 Matthews Dec. 1, 1891 885,866 Roy Apr. 28, 1908 1,299,177 Halinka Apr. 1, 1919 1,423,825 Anderson July 25, 1922 1,940,537 Faber Dec. 19, 1933 2,131,193 Tasman Sept. 27, 1938 2,317,699 Thompson Apr. 27, 1943 2,348,065 George May 2, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,768 Norway Nov. 19, 1906 

